


Doors

by Mythicalseries



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: 4 + 1, Link's POV, M/M, More like Link's commentary really, Tropetastic Tuesday, rhink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 08:21:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythicalseries/pseuds/Mythicalseries
Summary: Rhett kept opening doors for them; opportunities for something more that Link kept shuting down. That is, until one day he actually walked through one.





	Doors

Link's a guy who has no filter whatsoever. When he speaks his mind, which he does more often than not, his brain is usually not able to catch his words before they come out, so he unfortunately knows the feeling of regret a little too well. The truth is that even though he knows he runs the risk of sounding rude or insensitive, he can't really help it; he can't hold back. 

_This has always been true, yet the moments of my life I regret the most are the ones when I kept quiet. Those moments, now ingrained in my memory, were doors that could have led to a whole different life if only I had let myself speak out. Rhett, who was much braver than me, opened several of these doors throughout our lives, but I kept shutting them again and again out of fear. If I had told Rhett how I really felt from the start, maybe things would have been different._

 

Door 1: November, 1993

Rhett had just turned sixteen. As a birthday present, he had received the Omega that used to belong to his older brother Cole. There had been no big ceremony; his dad had simply handed him the keys and said: “Go pick up Link”.

And that’s what Rhett did. He picked up Link the same day he got the car and from that day on, he drove him home every day after school.

That Friday though, they had agreed to hang out at Rhett’s, maybe even go rent a movie. As they were getting into the car at the school parking lot, they saw three girls walk past the Omega. One of them – the prettiest one, as Rhett would immediately notice – waved at Link, smiling as she walked by.

“She’s hot”, Rhett said after Link waved back.

Link shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?! What are you talking about, man? Look at her!”

“I AM looking at her!” Link laughed. “I didn't say she was ugly, she's just alright…”

Rhett scoffed. “If you think Cathy Summers is ‘just alright’ then let me tell you right now that you're gonna have to lower your standards, buddy.”

Link rolled his eyes. “Just because you're always looking for your next girlfriend doesn't mean I am, you know?”

Whether the parking lot had actually become deserted or whether he had blurred everything else away, Link wasn't sure. What he did know for sure though, was that the air in the car had suddenly turned thicker. They sat in silence for a minute, both of them completely still, until Rhett spoke again.

“But that’s what's normal, isn't it?”, he said looking at his fidgeting hands. “Wanting a girlfriend?”

“Well yeah, but--”

“Then it's not like I have any other choice, do I?!”, he said sounding angry. After a second, however, he sheepishly turned to look at Link in the eye before continuing, merely in a whisper this time. “Do I, Link?”

Rhett liked girls – he had never questioned that before that moment. The other boy had been chasing them for years, and even though it hadn't come naturally to Link, he eventually followed Rhett's lead.

Link was aware that his indifference towards most girls and what he felt for Rhett couldn't be unrelated, but he hadn't yet dared to give that feeling a name. He only knew that making Rhett laugh was his favorite thing to do and that his best friend was, plain and simple, his favorite person in the world.

_There was an unmistakably loaded question in his eyes as they looked down at me full of fear and self doubt. It was in that moment that I knew I was in love with Rhett McLaughlin, and what's worse, he loved me back. But most importantly, I knew we were really REALLY not supposed to feel like that at all. Rhett had realized all this a lot sooner than me, of course, and he had only tried to do what was expected of him. I now know that if I had said something that day, he would have probably dropped the act for me, but back then I was still too scared of God and society to drop mine._

Link shrugged sadly. “I guess not.”

 

Door 2: May, 1996

School was almost over and their senior year had come and gone in a flash. To celebrate, the basketball team was holding a party at the captain’s house while the boy’s parents were away for the week.

There weren't many people really, fifty maximum, so Link couldn't understand how he could have lost Rhett. The tall boy had been having a chugging competition with two other guys from the team when Link had decided to go to the bathroom.

Even though Rhett had won the first three rounds, he hadn't drunk too much and neither had Link. They had been chugging water since the second round because whoever had bought the beers had severely miscalculated. They had ran out of everything that wasn't water or soda about an hour into the party but then again, buying alcohol with a fake ID in a small town was no easy task.

When Link came back from the bathroom, he already knew Rhett was nowhere in the crowd without having to look too hard. If he was there, he would stand out nearly a foot over everyone else. Suddenly confirming his suspicion, he felt Rhett’s heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Hey!", he practically yelled.

"Hey, man! I thought I lost you!"

"What?!" Rhett scrunched up his face, leaning closer to try to listen more clearly. "I can't hear anything!"

Between the loud music coming from the speaker beside them and people yelling from one side of the house to the other, it was impossible to have a conversation there. Link pointed towards the entrance where at least there were not as many people, and Rhett nodded.

Once they had made their way through the crowd, Link turned to Rhett again.

"I said I thought I lost you!"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry!" Rhett laughed. He took a second to look around them, checking if anyone was watching before he leaned down to speak mere inches away from Link’s ear. "It's too loud in here! Want to go upstairs?"

"There's no one upstairs", Link replied a bit naively.

His mind quickly caught on, however, when he felt Rhett’s fingers sliding down his forearm. To this day, Link remembers the bolt of electricity that went down his spine that night.

"Maybe that’s a good thing."

Rhett’s voice in his ear was low and inviting, but he convinced himself that it wasn't his best friend talking but the two beers he had had earlier. It broke Link’s heart to have to tear down the hopeful smile on Rhett's face but he told himself that he had to do it for both of their sakes.

In the end, he shook his head. “Nah, I'm tired. I just wanna go home.”

_Gosh, what was I thinking?! I should have said yes! I should have taken his hand and pulled him up the stairs. I should have pressed his back against the wall on the top floor and kissed him until there was nothing left of the good boys we used to be. He would have let me, but I just couldn't be as brave as he needed me to be._

Rhett nodded, disappointment written all over his face, but he still seemed determined to be as good of a friend as he ever was.

"Want me to give you a lift?"

Link huffed out a laugh. "Aren't you too drunk to drive?"

"I’m really not." Link could sense their little exchange was about something more than driving, but when he didn't reply, Rhett pressed on. “C’mon. It's no bother.”

“It’s fine, really. I’ll walk, it's just a few blocks.”

“Are you sure?”

Link thought about it for a second while Rhett's eyes were trying their best to convince him to stay. Even so, he eventually nodded in response.

“See you on Monday, buddy”, he said sadly to Rhett before he headed out the door.

The look on Rhett’s face that night was not something Link would ever forget.

_I was such an idiot._

 

Door 3: August, 1999

Rhett was leaving for his semester abroad the following morning. He had to be all set up in Bratislava before classes began in September but he waited until the last possible date to leave. Since Link knew he wouldn't be seeing his best friend for the next five months, he too delayed his return to university for as long as he could.

With his bags and everything packed up and ready to go, Rhett intended to relax and enjoy his last night at home. He had had an early dinner with his parents and Cole before Link came over to say goodbye.

Once Link had greeted everyone inside, he and Rhett went outside to sit on the McLaughlin’s porch. They sat side by side, both of them clearly aware that they were sitting closer than they needed to, but neither of them willing to move away. Not that night.

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Stupid me?", Link said pretending to be offended. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

Rhett chuckled. "I won't be here to stop you, so I already told Gregg to stand in for me as your voice of reason."

"Wow, hold on. Voice of reason? You're giving yourself too much credit, don't you think? I mean, you didn't stop me from taking that jump back in Boone…"

"I TOLD you it was a bad idea!"

Link shrugged comically. "I wouldn't know. I can't remember."

Rhett threw his head back laughing, making Link chuckle as well. It always made Link embarrassingly happy to make Rhett laugh like that. Once it died down, Rhett's face grew more serious as he turned to Link with a genuinely loving look.

"Just... promise me you'll take care."

Link smiled warmly at him. "I promise I'll try my best."

"At least try to not get another concussion, please”, he said jokingly. Yet he didn't seem to find what he said next so funny. “I wouldn't want to come back and find that you don't remember me."

_I should have told him that it was impossible – you simply can't forget someone who's constantly on your mind. I could never forget him because he has always been a part of me. I would have to forget the very essence of who I am if I wanted to erase him from my mind; and if by some kind of magic I managed to forget him, I know I would still want to meet him all over again._

_Even though I know I couldn't help the loving look I gave him, I wish I had said something smooth and cheesy like that. But I didn't. Instead I just said…_

"No concussions then."

 

Door 4: May, 2001.

Rhett's wedding was getting closer and closer, and the problems kept coming and coming. He had heard only about wedding related things for the past week and he was getting fed up with it all. In fact, he was pretty sure he never wanted to hear the word ‘centerpiece’ ever again.

He needed a break, so he managed to sneak out of the wedding planning center – also known as Jessie's house – at least for a little while.

He knew he couldn't go to his house, since his mom would also start bombarding him with wedding related questions. Therefore, he went to the only other place he could feel at home: Link’s house.

Link opened the door almost as soon as Rhett pulled up on his driveway. The tall man walked slowly like a zombie towards the front door, pushing past Link without saying hello. They had never bothered with hellos and goodbyes anyway. He didn't even bother asking if Christy was home because he already knew she’d be out helping Jessie. Much to his and Link’s delight, the two of them had grown a lot closer in the past couple of months.

"Well don't you look nice?", Link teased him.

Rhett, who had already dropped down on a chair to rest his forehead against the table, lifted his head to glare at him.

"Shut up. I've slept like five hours in three days, I'm exhausted."

Link huffed out a laugh before patting Rhett on shoulder. "No one tells you about this part of having a wedding, huh?"

"I didn't know it'd be so much work."

"Remember that for your next wedding", Link said smugly.

It earned him a death stare from Rhett which made him laugh. His tall friend then elbowed him on the stomach as a punishment for his insensitivity, but it only made Link laugh harder.

"You're still on time to back down, you know", Link said serious this time. As he saw Rhett's smile dropping from his face, he rushed to explain further. "I mean, you could still cancel the big white wedding and just ask Jessie to elope or something."

Rhett scoffed. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Then why don't you do that?"

"I don't know, because", he shrugged.

"Because what?"

If Rhett hadn't been so tired, maybe he wouldn't have snapped at Link like he did.

"Because that's what people expect, man! Isn't that why we...?" He sighed in frustration, not daring to finish that sentence.

He stood up, turning to look at Link with a certain fire in his eyes that Link couldn't recognize as rage; it was something else. "Let me ask you this: would YOU have eloped? Would you have run away like that?"

_If I’m honest, I have to admit that if he had asked, yes; I would have. If he had asked me to run away with him that day, I would have followed him anywhere; I would have run the day of my wedding and I would have run the day of his without a second thought. The funny thing is that even though he never asked, I still spent the last fifteen years following him anyway. It didn't occur to me until much later that maybe that was his way of asking me, but what can I say? I was just too blind._

When Link couldn't manage an answer, Rhett scoffed angrily. "That's what I thought", Link heard him mumble as he stormed out the door.

_Why didn't I correct him? Why did I let all these years slip away?_

He only heard the engine of Rhett's car as he drove away, and they never spoke of it again.

 

Door 5: May, 2016.

It had been a busy day. They had filmed two episodes of GMM before noon, while they spent the afternoon making sure a few details of the production of Buddy System were all sorted out before they started filming later on.

Since they had agreed to put in a few extra hours that day, Link went to fetch himself a cup of coffee. Everyone else had already left, so he didn't expect to hear Rhett talking to anyone as he was heading back into their office.

“Yeah, I know… I will, I promise… Yeah he's right here. I’ll tell him you said hi… Okay… Love you too, bye.”

“Was that your mom?”, Link asked once Rhett hung up.

He already knew the answer was yes, though; he could recognize the very specific tone Rhett used whenever he was talking to his mom.

“Yeah, she just missed me. She says I don't call them enough.”

“She’s pulling out the list of complaints on you, huh?”, Link laughed teasingly.

“Well, she's not wrong.” Rhett shrugged. “We’ve been so busy lately that I kinda pushed everything else into the background.”

As Rhett stared thoughtfully at the far wall, Link rushed to sit at his chair, immediately rolling it towards Rhett’s.

“You homesick?”, he asked lightly kicking Rhett's foot.

Rhett shook his head, smiling sadly. “Nah, I like it here. I just wish I could see them more often, I guess.”

“You couldn't convince mama Di to move to LA for anything in the world. You know that, right?”

His comment pulled out a genuine laugh from Rhett. “Of course.”

“But we couldn't have stayed there forever, not if we wanted this whole thing to grow.”

“I know, I know. And I don't regret it, man.” He shook his head again, trying to pull himself back together. “Don't worry about it.”

Rhett rolled his chair back towards his desk and opened his laptop, while Link sat still now lost in his own trail of thought.

“Do you think things would have been different if we had always lived here?”

“There must be a universe out there where we did”, Rhett said without looking at him.

Link rolled his eyes, but he had always found Rhett's crazy theories endearing and if he was honest, nothing short of interesting either. So he played along. “What's that universe like then?”

Rhett stopped to consider it for a second before closing his laptop and facing Link again.

“Well, for starters, we would have never had to move, so parallel universe Rhett and Link must see their folks a lot more often.”

Link nodded, smiling at the idea. “But they're also probably different people, right? I mean, if just moving to LA changed us, think about how different we would be if we had always lived here.”

“Who’s to say parallel us even met each other? LA’s a big city, man.”

“Oh they've met”, Link said nonchalantly.

Rhett had told him once that anything you could imagine was probably real in a parallel universe unless it violated the laws of physics. It was impossible for him, however, to think of a version of himself that could live his life without meeting Rhett at some point along the way. He wasn't exactly sure which law of nature it would violate, but there would simply be no Link without Rhett.

“Do you think they get along?”

Link tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, it's unlikely that we're friends in every universe. There has to be at least one where we're mortal enemies, or something.”

It made Link chuckle. “There can't be many of those.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes in the midst of a familiar awkwardness, one they hadn't felt in a while. Link could sense Rhett’s mind working, probably balancing the pros and the cons of taking his chances with Link again, so he practically sighed in relief when Rhett spoke again.

“Do you think there's a universe out there where we’re…” He seemed to hesitate for a second, but he eventually forced himself to get the rest of it out. “More?”

Link suddenly froze as he was confronted with the first opportunity to change it all in over fifteen years. After Rhett got married, they had an unspoken agreement to put their feelings aside and just focus on their families and their jobs. Yet the possibility of something else never left Link’s mind.

Thankfully, time had given him the wisdom to understand that what he and Rhett had was unique and that just because it was different, it didn't mean he had be afraid of it. After everything they went through, he knew it was unlikely something could ever tear them apart, so adding another layer to their relationship now seemed a lot less daunting.

Even after all those years, his feelings for Rhett had never changed and since his friend had stuck with him through the good times and the bad ones, he was almost sure that Rhett’s hadn't either. If there was any shred of doubt about it on Link's mind, however, the way Rhett's eyes searched his at that moment had to wipe it away.

Link nodded, pretending to consider the thought.

“Probably”, he said in the end.

He could see Rhett's face light up as he processed what he had just said. He held in a chuckle as he made a personal reminder to cherish the memory of Rhett’s puzzled but hopeful look at that very moment.

Only to end Rhett’s suffering, he let the corners of his mouth turn upwards into a wide grin before saying: “I think I’m suddenly jealous of parallel me.”

_And there it was. The moment I finally worked up the courage to walk through the door. It was almost as if the door Rhett opened up for us led to one of those parallel universes we had been talking about; all of a sudden, we became the other us._

_It saddens me a little that I will never get to know the universes that I missed out on each time I closed a door, but at least now Rhett and I get to wonder about them together. The truth is that if I had known the amount of happiness that awaited me on the other side, I would have walked through one a long time ago._

Rhett then beamed the biggest smile Link had ever seen. “Me too”, he said at last.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me as [Mythicalseries](http://mythicalseries.tumblr.com) on Tumblr or on Twitter under the same username. 
> 
> Your kudos and comments are always appreciated :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> PS: The lovely [Mythicalpatterns](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicalpatterns) made an AMAZING song based on this fic. Go listen to it [here](https://mythicalpatterns.tumblr.com/post/161901115069/this-is-a-song-for-mythicalseries-for-my-100) and get your mind blown but her incredible voice <3


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